On June 19, 1982, 27-year-old Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American man, was celebrating with friends at his bachelor party at a strip club in Detroit, Michigan, when he encountered a fight with two men Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz.
Two parties were thrown out of the club, but the fight continued in the parking lot, and later on Vincent and his friends escaped from the scene. However, Ebens and Nitz continued searching the neighborhood for Vincent Chin and his friends. Finally, Outside of a McDonald's, Nitz held Vincent Chin while Ebens repeatedly struck Vincent Chin in the head with a baseball bat.Four days later, on June 23, 1982, Vincent Chin died.
Following a plea bargain to reduce the second-degree murder charge, Ebens and Nitz were convicted of manslaughter. The two were sentenced by Judge Charles Kaufman to three years probation and ordered to pay a $3,000 fine. Two civil rights trials and a civil suit followed, but neither Ebens nor Nitz spent a day in jail.
Vincent Chin’s mother, Lily, “there’s nothing I can do to bring back Vincent, but I don’t want any other mother to go through what I’ve gone through!”
Opinion: How can a first degree manslaughter reduced to the second degree murder? Why could a judge allow two manslaughters staying zero days in jail? Is there a double standard for two different races?
Law is law and crime is crime! No matter what good reasons or good excuses, they can not be used as a forgiveness/pardon to escape one’s responsibility and consequences of a serious crime!
If an action causes a death then it is a serious crime, no matter what good excuse behinds this!